Elmec Romania, the sole representative of American sportswear company Nike on the Romanian market, has exceeded the sales targets set early in the year.
"We had anticipated an over 6 million-euro turnover, but it will actually be 10% higher this year," Ilias Kalamaras, Elmec Romania general manager said.
This trend was due to the increase in the number of clients, Elmec Romania's official says.
"The sales increased because of the new shops opened, on the one hand, yet the already existing shops registered higher sales, as well. The distribution operations went up even more," Kalamaras added.
Elmec Romania deals in both retail through its exclusive Nike shops and in wholesale for the various multi-brand stores on the Romanian market selling sportswear.
"Whereas wholesale accounted for 20% of our turnover and the retail accounted for 80% last year, the mix is now 30-70 and we believe it will be 50-50 at some point in the future," Kalamaras specified.
Another factor to have helped boost Nike's sales in Romania was the shrinking black market.
"Some people weren't even aware they were buying fakes. The campaigns promoting awareness in this regard and the co-operation with the General Customs Department have enabled us to successfully "purge" the market, at least in Bucharest. Under the circumstances, the potential clients decided to come to our stores and buy genuine products. Furthermore, we have offered sports shoes starting at 1-1.2 million ROL," Kalamaras explained.
Still, the best-selling models are the middle and high-end ones.
"We see a constant demand even for the most expensive shoes in the range, that cost about 200 euros," Elmec Romania's representative said.
Another component to have increased a great deal this year is the so-called fashion segment, i.e. that segment bordering on fashion and sports.
"Girls and kids clothing in their turn witnessed significant growth," Kalamaras added.
According to Kalamaras, the company, that opened its first shop four years ago, has come to operate fifteen Nike stores on its own and three under franchise contracts.
"We opened five shops this year and plan to open six more next year. We have already signed contracts for three of them," Kalamaras specified.
Under the circumstances, the company's' turnover might go up by more than 2 million euros next year.
"The realistic scenario has sales go up by 30%, while the optimistic scenario has sales up 40%," Kalamaras said.
Nike's rivals on the Romanian market are Adidas-Salomon, Reebok, Lotto and Puma, which operate through local importers or representative offices. The overall sales of the main sportswear brands in Romania will exceed 15 million euros this year, importers estimate.
Nike is the leading sportswear producer worldwide, whose sales reach about $10bn a year. Greek Elmec Sport is the sole distributor of Nike and Harley Davidson in the Balkans. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
